Romano Closes Arena Grand Prix at Minneapolis with Fourth Win

11/16/2013

USA Swimming National Team member Megan Romano (St. Petersburg, Fla.) closed out the Arena Grand Prix at Minneapolis with her fourth victory of the weekend, a win in the women’s 100y free, Saturday at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.

Fellow National Teamers Michael McBroom (The Woodlands, Texas) and Kiera Janzen (Robbinsdale, Minn.) each added strong performances in the 1650y free on the final night of the short-course yards meet, which served as the first of six stops of the 2013-14 Arena Grand Prix Series.

In the women’s 100y free, Romano closed strong over the final 50 yards to take first in a time of 48.62. The University of Minnesota pair of Lauren Votava (Des Peres, Mo.) and Rebecca Weiland (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) took second and third in 48.94 and 49.40, respectively.

In addition to her 100y free win tonight, Romano also topped the podium in the 50y free, 200y free and 100y back during the meet.

A silver medalist at the 2013 FINA World Championships, McBroom convincingly won the men’s 1650y free in 14:41.10. Michael Klueh (Evansville, Ind.) took second in 14:54.39, followed by Ryan Feeley (Rye, N.Y.) in 15:04.25.

In the women’s 1650y free, Janzen won in a time of 16:05.38 for the first of three victories for the hometown Golden Gophers on the night. Ashley Steenvoorden (East Brunswick, N.J.) came in second in 16:10.13. USA Swimming National Junior Team member and 14-year-old Isabella Rongione (McLean, Va.) finished third in 16:12.22.

Minnesota’s Kierra Smith of Canada and Tori Simenec (Salem, Ore.) finished one-two in the women’s 200y IM with times of 1:57.80 and 1:57.84, respectively. National Team member Megan Kingsley (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) placed third in 2:00.34.

In a tightly contested men’s 200y IM, South Africa’s Darian Townsend took first in a time of 1:43.73, edging U.S. Olympic gold medalist Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.), who touched in 1:43.76. Austin Surhoff (Cockeysville, Md.) took third finishing in 1:44.92.

Dwyer had a big weekend in Minneapolis, taking first in the 400y IM and 500y free and second in the 200y free and 200y IM.

In an exciting men’s 100y free, Great Britain’s Adam Brown took first in 41.89 followed by Brazil’s Cesar Cielo one one-hundredth of a second later in 41.90. Yannick Agnel of France placed third in 42.63.

Russia’s Arkady Vyatchanin came in first in the men’s 200y back in 1:41.45. Junior National Teamer Ryan Harty (Gardner, Mass.) placed second in 1:43.53. Pedro Oliveira of Portugal finished third in 1:44.63.

The 2013-14 Arena Grand Prix Series resumes with the Arena Grand Prix at Austin, set for Jan. 17-19, 2014.

As part of USA Swimming’s partnership with Arena, the Arena Grand Prix Series will offer swimmers the opportunity to take home prize money for top finishes in all individual Olympic-distance events. In total, $150,000 in prize money is available to be distributed over the course of the six-meet series. At each meet, $500 will be awarded for a first-place finish, $300 for second and $100 for third in all individual events. Arena is serving as the title sponsor for the Arena Grand Prix Series for the second straight year.

In addition to the prize money, swimmers will compete for a Series grand prize from BMW. For the first time in the history of the Series, BMW will give the highest-scoring eligible male and female U.S. swimmer a one-year lease of a BMW ActiveHybrid 3 Series.

Male and female overall Arena Grand Prix Series champions will be honored at the conclusion of the 2013-14 series based on the number of points accumulated throughout the six meets. Participants will be awarded points in each individual Olympic event throughout the duration of the Series (Five points for first, three for second, one point for third place). Olympic gold medalists Missy Franklin and Ryan Lochte won the 2012-13 series titles.